Analysis of The Old Superb
Sir Henry Newbolt 1862 (Bilston, Staffordshire) – 1938 (Kensington, London)
The wind was rising easterly, the morning sky was blue,
The Straits before us opened wide and free;
We looked towards the Admiral, where high the Peter flew,
And all our hearts were dancing like the sea.
'The French are gone to Martinique with four and twenty sail!
The Old _Superb_ is old and foul and slow,
But the French are gone to Martinique, and Nelson's on the trail.
And where he goes the Old _Superb_ must go!'
So Westward ho! for Trinidad, and Eastward ho! for Spain,
And 'Ship ahoy!' a hundred times a day;
Round the world if need be, and round the world again,
With a lame duck lagging all the way.
The Old _Superb_ was barnacled and green as grass below,
Her sticks were only fit for stirring grog;
The pride of all her midshipmen was silent long ago,
And long ago they ceased to heave the log.
Four year out from home she was, and ne'er a week in port,
And nothing save the guns aboard her bright;
But Captain Keats he knew the game, and swore to share the sport,
For he never yet came in too late to fight.
So Westward ho! for Trinidad, and Eastward ho! for Spain,
And 'Ship ahoy!' a hundred times a day;
Round the world if need be, and round the world again,
With a lame duck lagging all the way.
'Now up, my lads,' the Captain cried, 'for sure the case were hard
If longest out were first to fall behind;
Aloft, aloft with studding sails, and lash them on the yard,
For night and day the Trades are driving blind!'
So all day long and all day long behind the fleet we crept,
And how we fretted none but Nelson guessed;
But every night the Old _Superb_ she sailed when others slept,
Till we ran the French to earth with all the rest.
Oh, 'twas Westward ho! for Trinidad, and Eastward ho! for Spain,
And 'Ship ahoy!' a hundred times a day;
Round the world if need be, and round the world again,
With a lame duck lagging all the way.
Scheme | ababcdcd EFGF dxdxhihi EFGF jkjklmlm eFGF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110100010111 0101110101 11010100110101 01101010101 01111001110101 011110101 101111001010101 011101111 1101110010111 0101010101 101111010101 101110101 01111011101 0101011101 01110110110101 0101111101 1111111010101 0101010101 11011101011101 11101101111 1101110010111 0101010101 101111010101 101110101 11110101110101 1101011101 0101111011101 1101011101 11110111010111 0111011101 11001011111101 11101111101 11101110010111 0101010101 101111010101 101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,820 |
Words | 363 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 236 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 59 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:47 min read
- 113 Views
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"The Old Superb" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35171/the-old-superb>.
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